The Value of an Aeroplan Mile

The dollar value of 1 Aeroplan mile is$0.0120

Dollar value of 1 mile

Flexibility of miles

Can miles cover taxes and fees?

$0.0120

Medium

Yes

Aeroplan is one of the most popular loyalty programs in Canada. Many banks like CIBC, TD and American Express offer a variety of different Aeroplan credit cards; so make sure you do your research because the annual net reward of each card will vary.

Ratehub.ca Recommends:

How much are your Aeroplan Points worth?

Before we begin, it is important to note that Aeroplan "Miles" and "Points" are the same and will be used interchangeably.

Aeroplan charges you a fixed number of miles based on the region you’re flying to. Ratehub.ca has created an Aeroplan flight rewards chart outlining the value of an Aeroplan mile if redeemed for a flight in each of the following regions:

Flight Region

Miles Required

Average Value of a Mile (Ratehub.ca analysis)
Dollar value of one Aeroplan mile when flying to this region

Value of Region
Strength in comparison to the average dollar value benchmark of $0.0120

On average you receive the most value for your Aeroplan miles by flying to the Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific region. The most popular flight region to redeem Aeroplan points for is the Canada & Continental USA long-haul region needing only 25,000 miles which provides outstanding value.

Here is the methodology we used to determine the average value of an Aeroplan mile:

A. Price out each destination three different times per year as follows:

Look up the price of a flight between your destinations online through www.kayak.com

Log into Aeroplan and search for a similar flight offered through the Aeroplan platform

Select a flight and note the Aeroplan points required and taxes and fees charged by Aeroplan

Take the price of a flight found online and subtract the taxes that Aeroplan would charge for a comparable flight, to find your net gain

Divide your net gain by the total miles required to find the value of an Aeroplan point

B. Complete the above analysis for two other destinations within the flight region

C. Take the average value per mile across the three destinations three times per year

D. Repeat this process for all flight regions

A. Price out Toronto to New York three times per year

The examples below were priced out by Ratehub.ca in June 2014.

Booking 1 month away: Flying Toronto to New York (JFK) in July 2014

Total cost of flight

Required to book

$277.05 Price of a flight found on Kayak

$179.41 Taxes, fees and surcharges15000miles on Aeroplan

Step 1:
Determine the net gain of redeeming your miles

$277.05 flight price$179.41 taxes & fees=

$97.64 net gain

Step 2:
Determine the value of your miles

$97.64 net gain÷15000miles=

$0.007 value

Booking 3 months away: Flying Toronto to New York (JFK) in September 2014

Total cost of flight

Required to book

$277.06 Price of a flight found on Kayak

$179.41 Taxes, fees and surcharges15000miles on Aeroplan

Step 1:
Determine the net gain of redeeming your miles

$277.06 flight price$179.41 taxes & fees=

$97.65 net gain

Step 2:
Determine the value of your miles

$97.65 net gain÷15000miles=

$0.007 value

Booking 6 months away: Flying Toronto to New York (JFK) in late December 2014

Total cost of flight

Required to book

$441.00 Price of a flight found on Kayak

$179.41 Taxes, fees and surcharges15000miles on Aeroplan

Step 1:
Determine the net gain of redeeming your miles

$441.00 flight price$179.41 taxes & fees=

$261.59 net gain

Step 2:
Determine the value of your miles

$261.59 net gain÷15000miles=

$0.017 value

Once you’ve completed the analysis for one destination booking 1 month, 3 months and 6 months away, the next step is to repeat this analysis for three destinations within the same flight region. See our Aeroplan travel chart below as an example.

1 month away

3 months away

6 months away

Average

Toronto — NYC (LGA)

$0.007

$0.007

$0.017

$0.010

Toronto — Montreal

$0.004

$0.004

$0.012

$0.007

Toronto — Ottawa

$0.002

$0.002

$0.01

$0.004

Average

$0.004

$0.004

$0.013

$0.007

Finally, you must complete the above analysis for all Aeroplan flight regions, which is what Ratehub.ca has done to build the flight chart we published at the top of this page. For an in depth look at how we calculated the average value of an Aeroplan mile, please download this excel spreadsheet.

Overall Flexibilty: Medium

Taxes and fees covered?

Consistent value?

Transferable to/from other rewards programs?

Yes

No

Yes

Yes, Aeroplan allows you to pay for taxes and fees with your miles.

No, the value of your Aeroplan points change with many factors like flight destination and seasonality.

Yes, you can transfer your points with select rewards programs.

More than one airline involved in program?

Can the points be used retroactively?

Expiration date on points?

Yes

No

Yes

Yes, in addition to Air Canada, all airlines under the Star Alliance bracket are included. Popular ones include: United Airlines and Lufthansa.

Note: for Market Fare flights, Air Canada is the only airline available.

No, you must use your points at the time of purchase.

Yes, if you are inactive on your Aeroplan account for 12 consecutive months, your Aeroplan points will expire.

By supplementing the Fixed Mileage flights with Market Fare flights, the Aeroplan loyalty program becomes more flexible than in previous years. But compared to other rewards programs, where you have the flexibility to shop around on any travel site and simply erase the purchase from your credit card bill using points, it has a lot of room for improvement.

A common complaint for Aeroplan’s Fixed Mileage program is the degree of difficulty getting the flight you want for the dates you want. For each flight, Air Canada reserves a certain number of seats for customers using Aeroplan’s Fixed Mileage flight rewards. If you have a set itinerary, to guarantee a flight on points you would have to book far in advance or during the low season. Also, although they’ve introduced Market Fare flights to mitigate this problem, Market Fare is only eligible for Air Canada operated flights and can sometimes cost you more Aeroplan points.

Aeroplan does have some great benefits though, which we believe contribute to greater flexibility within the Aeroplan rewards program. Here are some features you should know:

Multi-city: when redeeming a round-trip flight using Fixed Mileage flight rewards, you can book stopovers and see other cities along the way or book different arrival and departures cities for no additional miles

Last minute booking: you can book your ticket up to 2 hours before departure

Cancellations or changes: for a fee of $90, you have the ability to change or cancel your flight up to 2 hours before departure without losing your miles

The Aeroplan rewards program isn’t perfect, but when used strategically, it can save you hundreds of dollars in travel costs.

The Aeroplan program now allows you to use your miles to cover taxes, fees and surcharges. If you decide to pay for the taxes without using your points the value of your points will be unaffected (we’ve taken them in to account when determining the value of an Aeroplan mile). However, if you choose to use your Aeroplan miles to cover the cost of the taxes the value of your points may vary.

Best Way to Use Your Aeroplan Miles

The value of your Aeroplan miles depends on what rewards you redeem your Aeroplan miles for. The math to determine the average value of an Aeroplan mile can be seen in the tab “Value of Miles”. Some flights offer you very little value for your miles and if you think you’ll fly in the near future, it’s worth saving your Aeroplan miles for more valuable destinations. In this post we will go over several techniques that can be used to maximize the value of your Aeroplan miles.

Maximization Rules

Ratehub.ca’s research shows the average dollar value of an Aeroplan mile is $0.0120. Use this as your benchmark and whenever possible only redeem Aeroplan when the value offered is close to or above the benchmark. Let’s look at an example.

It’s January 13th, 2015 and we’re trying to book a flight from Toronto to New York’s LaGuardia Airport for family day weekend: Friday, Feb 13th – Monday, Feb 16th. On Kayak, we can find a direct flight that will cost $288 including taxes and fees. Through Aeroplan a similar flight would require 20,000 miles and an additional $117.56 in taxes and fees. Let’s determine the value we would receive if we used our miles.

Step 1:
Determine the net gain of redeeming your miles

$288.00 flight price$117.56 taxes & fees=

$170.44 net gain

Step 2:
Determine the value of your miles

$170.44 net gain÷15000miles=

$0.0085 value

Since $0.0085 is significantly less than the benchmark of $0.0120, to mazimize our return, we should redeem our Aeroplan miles for future travel with better Aeroplan value. That being said, using your miles in the above scenario will still save you $110.44, so if you don’t have future travel in your plans, it may be in your best interests to redeem your miles, albeit at a lower value.

Mileage requirements for some flight zones offer more value than others. Based on Ratehub.ca’s analysis (shown in detail on the “Value of Miles” tab) here is an Aeroplan value chart showing the regions that on average offer a higher value than the benchmark of $0.0120:

One of the biggest complaints that consumers voice with the Aeroplan program is that the taxes that have to be paid in addition to the required miles are way too high (link to blog post on taxes). Most flights on Aeroplan charge a fuel surcharge (All Air Canada flights have a fuel surcharge) but there are several airlines you can book on Aeroplan that don’t charge you for fuel. For example, if you travelled to Beijing for two weeks (September 23- October 7) and booked the flight on Aeroplan, choosing United Airlines flights for both departing and returning, you would pay only $119.26 for taxes, fees and surcharges. The reason the taxes are so low is because United Airlines flights don’t charge you a fuel surcharge when booking on Aeroplan. In comparison, if you were to fly on the same dates but on Air Canada, you would pay $469.86 for taxes, fees and surcharges. United Airlines is not the only airline on Aeroplan that doesn’t charge you for fuel, Air New Zealand, Air China, and EVA Air also have no fuel surcharges

Most Aeroplan users think of Market Fare flights as a more expensive option with greater flight availability. However, the truth is that domestic and transborder market fare flights can often be a better deal than a Fixed Mileage Flight. These market fare flights do not have a fuel surcharge which makes the taxes significantly lower. Even with the higher mileage requirements these market fare flights could offer you more value for your Aeroplan miles. For example, when we looked for a flight from Toronto to Montreal, a Fixed Mileage Flight was 15,000 miles + $168.02 for taxes. On the same day there was a Market Fare flight for 20,000 miles + $73.10 for taxes. If you redeem your miles for the Fixed Mileage Flight, you receive $0.003 per mile. If you redeem your miles for the Market Fare flight you receive $0.007 per mile. In general short distance flights do not provide great value for your Aeroplan miles but in this case, you can redeem Aeroplan at a higher value if you book the Market Fare Flight.

In general, Ratehub.ca’s research has shown that redeeming Aeroplan miles for goods other than flights offers a low value per mile. As always, before opting for this type of redemption, determine the value of your Aeroplan miles and compare it to the benchmark.

Let’s look at an example where we are considering redeeming our miles for a gift certificate for Air Canada. There are of course many other retailers to choose from. We want to compare the value of the gift certificate versus the miles required as shown in our Aeroplan rewards chart below:

Miles required

Air Canada gift certificate

Value per mile

12,000

$100

$0.0083

29,500

$250

$0.0085

58,500

$500

$0.0085

116,500

$1,000

$0.0086

From this analysis we can see the value ranges from $0.0083 to $0.0086. As this is lower than Ratehub.ca’s Aeroplan benchmark value of $0.0120, we would try and save the miles for more valuable travel.